JLT Condor rider Ed Clancy defeated plenty of WorldTour opposition as he took victory in the Herald Sun Tour prologue to take victory by a single second.
Riding his first race of the year, Clancy's was just the 10th rider off the start ramp, setting a time of 1-54 on the narrow 1.6km course in the centre of Melbourne that would stand up to challenges from the strong line-ups of Trek-Segafredo and Mitchelton-Scott.
Shortened from 2.1km to 1.6km for 2018, the short prologue was ideally suited to track specialist Clancy, with the three-time Olympic champion on the track taking his first road victory since the 2011 Tour of Korea.
>>> Herald Sun Tour 2018: Everything you need to know
The 32-year-old Clancy endured a long wait in the hot-seat as no fewer than four riders came just one second away from besting his time. Mads Pedersen and former JLT Condor rider Alex Frame, both of Trek-Segrafedo, were among those riders, as was Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport), who beat Clancy to omnium gold at the 2012 Olympics.
However despite Pedersen stopping the clock less than a second slower Clancy, no one else could challenge the Brit's time, and he will now wear the leader's yellow jersey on stage one, which covers 161.6km between Colac to Warrnambool.
Results
Herald Sun Tour 2018, prologue: Melbourne to Melbourne, 1.6km
1. Edward Clancy (GBr) JLT Condor, in 1-55
2. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 1 sec
3. Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport
4. Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
5. Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong SwissWellness, all at same time
6. Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, at 2 secs
7. Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor, at 4 secs
8. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
9. Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
10 Matthew Gibson (GBr) JLT Condor, all at same time
General classification after prologue
1. Edward Clancy (GBr) JLT Condor, in 1-55
2. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 1 sec
3. Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport
4. Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
5. Anthony Giacoppo (Aus) Bennelong SwissWellness, all at same time
6. Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, at 2 secs
7. Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor, at 4 secs
8. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
9. Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
10 Matthew Gibson (GBr) JLT Condor, all at same time
